Anna Hakobyan, spouse of Armenia’s acting prime minister, chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of „My Step“ and „City of Smile“ Foundations, on December 14 attended a concert in Geneva’s St. Germain church dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the 1988 Armenian earthquake.
The concert has been organized by the Armenian Embassy in Switzerland. In her remarks Anna Hakobyan said the concert is a chance not only to pay tribute to the memory of the earthquake victims, but also to once again express gratitude to all countries and peoples of the world that supported Armenia and the Armenian people at that difficult time.
“Switzerland is the great friend of Armenia and as a real friend, it provided support with all measures to us during the earthquake days. I was very impressed with the story told by Charge d’Affaires of Armenia in Switzerland Anahit Harutyunyan which focuses on Mike Baronian, famous and respected person of the Armenian community. That year immediately after the quake Mike Baronian was walking in one of the streets of a Swiss city and noticed a person holding a small poster. He approached that man and saw what was written on the poster “Help Armenia!” There is so much in this story, and we are so thankful to the Swiss people for this attitude”,
Mrs. Hakobyan said, adding that the assistance of Switzerland has always been appreciated.
“Today tens of thousands of people across the world suffer from genocides, wars and deportations. The 30th anniversary of the earthquake is perhaps the occasion for us to once again stop and think what we are doing”, she said.
In her turn Anahit Harutyunyan said the universal unity after the earthquake was a unique value of humanism, a true example of universal unity and responsibility. “Without the support of the international community, it would be more difficult to overcome that disaster. Switzerland and the Swiss people have been the leaders of that support”, she said.